Faucets and faucet handle escutcheons are known in the art, as are methods and apparatus for attaching these items to valve bases for anchorage, and to operate water valves. Heretofore, installing and uninstalling these components required qualified plumbers or skilled handypersons employing a variety of hand tools such as wrenches and/or pliers. Escutcheons moreover, are prone to gradually separate from the surface onto which a plumbing trim fixture is installed, creating both an unsightly appearance and providing access between wall interiors and exteriors through which insects and vermin might pass.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved plumbing trim connection that can be easily installed and uninstalled, while also providing an escutcheon not prone to separation from the surface against which it is positioned. A further object of the invention is to provide a plumbing trim fixture that can be installed and uninstalled manually, without the use of hand tools. Yet another embodiment is to provide a plumbing fixture allowing removal of the handle and faucet assembly while allowing the base to remain attached to an installation surface. These and other objects of the invention will become better understood through the appended Summary, Description and Claims.
In order to solve existing problems in the art, a manually connecting and disconnecting plumbing trim apparatus is proposed. The apparatus principally includes a handle assembly including a faucet handle, escutcheon and stem nut holding the handle assembly together, while allowing the faucet handle to rotate relative to the escutcheon. The trim apparatus also includes a base assembly, including a retainer, spring and valve base with a seat for accommodating the escutcheon.
The back of the escutcheon includes a series of lower tabs and a series of upper tabs on its underside surface for engaging the base assembly. The top of the base assembly includes a seat for holding the spring and retainer. The seat maintains the spring and retainer in position by restraints that hold the retainer and spring within the confines of the seat while allowing the spring to urge the retainer up against the restraints. The restraints rest in indentations on the retainer to prevent lateral rotation of the retainer relative to the seat.
The seat includes a series of grooves corresponding to the lower tabs on the escutcheon. Each groove also contains a helical cut extending away from the groove. A lower tab, therefore, may be urged downward into a groove and then with rotational movement, brought under the helical cut, causing the lower tab to tighten against the seat.
The retainer includes a series of cut-outs, or indents, around its outside edge, each indent associated with an upper tab of the escutcheon. In this manner, the upper tabs may push down the retainer, compressing the spring as the lower tabs engage grooves on the seat. Then, as the lower tabs rotate into the helical cuts, the upper tabs rotate along the retainer's top surface toward the retainer indents.
As the lower tabs reach the termini of the helical cuts, the upper tabs move into the indents, causing the spring to urge the retainer up, locking the upper tabs in position. It has been found that by including an angled portion to the indents, the upper tabs may be urged out of them by applying sufficient reverse rotational movement, thereby re-depressing the retainer and rotating atop it to a disassembling position.
Once the escutcheon has been placed over the seat with downward pressure, the lower tabs aligned with the grooves, the lower tabs may be rotated into the helical cuts. As the lower tabs move down and rotate into the helical cuts, the upper tabs urge the retainer downward against the spring. By rotating the escutcheon in position relative to the seat, the upper tabs travel along the top surface of the depressed retainer. To prevent the retainer from rotating in tandem with the escutcheon, the restraints of the seat align with indentations in the retainer to permit depression of the retainer without allowing the restraints to escape the indentations.
The helical cuts have terminal ends, and when the lower tabs meet the terminal ends and stop rotational movement, the upper tabs simultaneously move into the indents. The indents in the retainer also have angled portions over which the upper tabs slide when entering and exiting the indents. The angled portion allows a user to disassemble the assembly by reverse rotational movement of the escutcheon. Opposite the angled portion, the indents have vertical side walls preventing continued forward rotational movement of the upper tabs.
With the escutcheon pushed down against the seat, the lower tabs disposed in the grooves, and the escutcheon rotated until the upper tabs are disposed in the indents, and the lower tabs disposed in the helical cuts, assembly is complete. To disassemble the device, a user need only rotate the escutcheon in a reverse direction, urging the upper tab over the angled portion and out of the indents. Once the lower tabs reach the grooves, the handle assembly can be removed from the base. In this manner, both handles and faucets incorporating the assembly of the present invention may be removed and replaced with new fixtures without removing the bases from their points of installation.
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Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. For instance the escutcheon and base assembly may be used for outdoor fixtures, and other areas where a tool-less quick disassembly is desirable. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.
Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional application No. 61/207,691, filed on Feb. 12, 2009.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61207691 | Feb 2009 | US |